Wolves in Need of a Challenge Cup Boost
Just like last year, Paul Cullen could do with a favorable result against St Helens in the cup, says Andy Wilson
Almost a year ago Paul Cullen took his Warrington team to St Helens for a Challenge Cup quarter-final amid suggestions that his job was on the line with a poor series of Super League results leaving the Wolves struggling to justify their pre-season hype. Eleven months on, and the only part of that sentence which is no longer applicable is the stage of the competition, as Cullen's Wolves have again been drawn at Knowsley Road this weekend, but this time in the last 16.
It's been another hairy few weeks for the 25-year stalwart of the Cheshire club, with a run of four consecutive league defeats ended only in fortunate and deeply unconvincing style against Huddersfield in Cardiff last weekend.
Warrington were 22-6 down at half-time after being thoroughly outplayed and there would surely have been no way back had the Giants' Australian full-back Rod Jensen caught Jamahl Lolesi's pass to score a fifth try in the 46th minute. Instead the Wolves' full-back Stuart Reardon was awarded a try that left Huddersfield understandably seething and the match was transformed, with Lee Briers seizing control and the Giants falling to pieces to concede three more tries in an eight-minute spell.
Two of them came courtesy of further Jensen fumbles, prompting one press box cynic to suggest that he had saved Cullen's job. That was probably overstating the case slightly as Simon Moran, the music promoter who is Warrington's majority shareholder and has shown such commendable loyalty to his coach during the sporadic storms of the last few years, would surely have been reluctant to make a change in the build-up to this weekend's cup tie at St Helens.
But Moran gave a rare interview to the Warrington Guardian this week in which he stressed that the club's minimum expectation this season is to reach a final, and that another brave effort against Saints following two Super League defeats already this year would not be good enough. For Cullen, crunch time is clearly approaching.
Yet on the evidence of the Millennium Magic weekend, the Wolves could hardly be facing their bęte noire at a worse time. Saints were as impressive as Warrington were unconvincing in blitzing Wigan in the last game of the jamboree, with their coach Daniel Anderson stating afterwards that their performance was no more than he expected when he was able to field his strongest team of the season.
Like his Knowsley Road predecessor Ian Millward, Anderson has prioritized the cup as an easier trophy to win than the Super League and therefore had his team peaking whenever necessary to ensure their progress to the last two finals, and victories over Huddersfield at Twickenham and the Catalans at Wembley.
Perhaps the most worrying thing for Cullen is that Saints are unlikely to be as vulnerable as they were in last year's quarter-final, when Sean Long returned after a series of injuries and fell well short of his usual standards to give Warrington a real chance of causing an upset. They weren't good enough to take that chance, despite a memorable individual try from Kevin Penny, so if Long repeats his masterful Cardiff performance against Wigan, they could be in real trouble.
Having said all that Barrie McDermott, who has much more first-hand knowledge of the game than the rest of our tipping panel put together, has predicted a Warrington victory, reckoning that there are enough quality players in the Wolves team – Briers, Morley, Monaghan, King and the Anderson brothers, with Vinnie set to return from injury – to finally produce the goods. For the sake of Cullen and the Warrington supporters who are surely due a bit of success, especially against St Helens, I hope he's right.
Other notable forecasts are both the Observer's David Lawrenson and Dave Woods of the BBC predicting that Harlequins will beat Leeds, while Catalans Dragons receive three votes out of six to win at Bradford. Rugby league's Lawro has also tipped a Danny Brough drop goal in a 35-point Wakefield win at Barrow, but Woodsy has passed on the Hull KR v Huddersfield game as he'll be commentating on it for the BBC.
St Helens v Warrington (Saturday 3pm, BBC)Andy Wilson (Guardian): Saints by 2Gareth Walker (Guardian): Saints by 8Dave Lawrenson (Observer): Saints by 18Rod Studd (Racing Post & Sky Sports): Saints by 10Barrie McDermott (Sky Sports): Wire by 6Dave Woods (BBC 5 Live & Super League Show): Saints by 18
Hull KR v Huddersfield (Sunday 1.15pm, BBC)Wilson: Giants by 6Walker: Rovers by 10Lawrenson: Rovers by 10Studd: Giants by 4McDermott: Rovers by 6Woods: no tip (commentating)
Barrow v Wakefield (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Wakey by 18Walker: Wakey by 20Lawrenson: Wakey by 35Studd: Wakey by 30McDermott: Wakey by 18Woods: Wakey by 22
Bradford v Catalans (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Bulls by 8Walker: Dragons by 4Lawrenson: Bulls by 6Studd: Dragons by 4McDermott: Dragons by 6Woods: Bulls by 8
Dewsbury v Oldham (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Oldham by 4Walker: Oldham by 4Lawrenson: Rams by 8Studd: Rams by 6McDermott: Oldham by 8Woods: Rams by 2
Harlequins v Leeds (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Leeds by 16Walker: Leeds by 10Lawrenson: Quins by 4Studd: Leeds by 16McDermott: Leeds by 10Woods: Quins by 6
Widnes v Hull (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Hull by 14Walker: Hull by 10Lawrenson: Hull by 12Studd: Hull by 14McDermott: Hull by 12Woods: Hull by 10
It's been another hairy few weeks for the 25-year stalwart of the Cheshire club, with a run of four consecutive league defeats ended only in fortunate and deeply unconvincing style against Huddersfield in Cardiff last weekend.
Warrington were 22-6 down at half-time after being thoroughly outplayed and there would surely have been no way back had the Giants' Australian full-back Rod Jensen caught Jamahl Lolesi's pass to score a fifth try in the 46th minute. Instead the Wolves' full-back Stuart Reardon was awarded a try that left Huddersfield understandably seething and the match was transformed, with Lee Briers seizing control and the Giants falling to pieces to concede three more tries in an eight-minute spell.
Two of them came courtesy of further Jensen fumbles, prompting one press box cynic to suggest that he had saved Cullen's job. That was probably overstating the case slightly as Simon Moran, the music promoter who is Warrington's majority shareholder and has shown such commendable loyalty to his coach during the sporadic storms of the last few years, would surely have been reluctant to make a change in the build-up to this weekend's cup tie at St Helens.
But Moran gave a rare interview to the Warrington Guardian this week in which he stressed that the club's minimum expectation this season is to reach a final, and that another brave effort against Saints following two Super League defeats already this year would not be good enough. For Cullen, crunch time is clearly approaching.
Yet on the evidence of the Millennium Magic weekend, the Wolves could hardly be facing their bęte noire at a worse time. Saints were as impressive as Warrington were unconvincing in blitzing Wigan in the last game of the jamboree, with their coach Daniel Anderson stating afterwards that their performance was no more than he expected when he was able to field his strongest team of the season.
Like his Knowsley Road predecessor Ian Millward, Anderson has prioritized the cup as an easier trophy to win than the Super League and therefore had his team peaking whenever necessary to ensure their progress to the last two finals, and victories over Huddersfield at Twickenham and the Catalans at Wembley.
Perhaps the most worrying thing for Cullen is that Saints are unlikely to be as vulnerable as they were in last year's quarter-final, when Sean Long returned after a series of injuries and fell well short of his usual standards to give Warrington a real chance of causing an upset. They weren't good enough to take that chance, despite a memorable individual try from Kevin Penny, so if Long repeats his masterful Cardiff performance against Wigan, they could be in real trouble.
Having said all that Barrie McDermott, who has much more first-hand knowledge of the game than the rest of our tipping panel put together, has predicted a Warrington victory, reckoning that there are enough quality players in the Wolves team – Briers, Morley, Monaghan, King and the Anderson brothers, with Vinnie set to return from injury – to finally produce the goods. For the sake of Cullen and the Warrington supporters who are surely due a bit of success, especially against St Helens, I hope he's right.
Other notable forecasts are both the Observer's David Lawrenson and Dave Woods of the BBC predicting that Harlequins will beat Leeds, while Catalans Dragons receive three votes out of six to win at Bradford. Rugby league's Lawro has also tipped a Danny Brough drop goal in a 35-point Wakefield win at Barrow, but Woodsy has passed on the Hull KR v Huddersfield game as he'll be commentating on it for the BBC.
St Helens v Warrington (Saturday 3pm, BBC)Andy Wilson (Guardian): Saints by 2Gareth Walker (Guardian): Saints by 8Dave Lawrenson (Observer): Saints by 18Rod Studd (Racing Post & Sky Sports): Saints by 10Barrie McDermott (Sky Sports): Wire by 6Dave Woods (BBC 5 Live & Super League Show): Saints by 18
Hull KR v Huddersfield (Sunday 1.15pm, BBC)Wilson: Giants by 6Walker: Rovers by 10Lawrenson: Rovers by 10Studd: Giants by 4McDermott: Rovers by 6Woods: no tip (commentating)
Barrow v Wakefield (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Wakey by 18Walker: Wakey by 20Lawrenson: Wakey by 35Studd: Wakey by 30McDermott: Wakey by 18Woods: Wakey by 22
Bradford v Catalans (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Bulls by 8Walker: Dragons by 4Lawrenson: Bulls by 6Studd: Dragons by 4McDermott: Dragons by 6Woods: Bulls by 8
Dewsbury v Oldham (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Oldham by 4Walker: Oldham by 4Lawrenson: Rams by 8Studd: Rams by 6McDermott: Oldham by 8Woods: Rams by 2
Harlequins v Leeds (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Leeds by 16Walker: Leeds by 10Lawrenson: Quins by 4Studd: Leeds by 16McDermott: Leeds by 10Woods: Quins by 6
Widnes v Hull (Sunday 3pm)Wilson: Hull by 14Walker: Hull by 10Lawrenson: Hull by 12Studd: Hull by 14McDermott: Hull by 12Woods: Hull by 10
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